


Positivity!

by TheHomestuckWhovian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Fluff to fill the void, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, also because ace Keith is such a compelling thing to write tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-19 22:59:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11907984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHomestuckWhovian/pseuds/TheHomestuckWhovian
Summary: Keith comes out.





	Positivity!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mikiri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikiri/gifts).



> Dedicated to Miki!
> 
> (I'm so sorry this is a bit late)

It occurred to Keith in middle school that not having crushes wasn't considered normal.

It took him about five more minutes of thinking before he came to the conclusion that he probably just had standards that were too high, and he proceeded to ignore that for another day. He had a lot more things to worry about, like school and athletics and navigating the people that had drastically transformed in front of him right as he had just thought he had figured them out.

He was about fourteen when he found the word asexual online.

For him, it was bit like a puzzle piece snapping into place after attempting to fit another piece there for so long. He spent a moment, tossing the word around in his brain, applying the word to himself and realizing it fit.

Keith was asexual.

Now if he could figure out how to tell everybody.

* * *

He was fifteen when he told Shiro.

Keith knew he wanted to tell Shiro first. The two had been close for a while at that point, and he didn't really know anyone else he knew and trusted with that information. He certainly wasn't planning on telling his foster parents in any reality, because he wasn't ready for the backlash that could possibly result from that. He didn't really have any other friends, so Shiro was the only one he could really tell.

Of course, that also meant that if Shiro reacted badly, Keith was alone.

Which was a big reason why it took him so long to finally get to the point where he felt ready to risk it. Because he was impulsive but he wasn't willing to lose the only person who cared about him. So, he waited and agonized over how to approach the topic with Shiro. Every time he considered it, something made him change his mind, from Shiro looking slightly more exhausted than usual to a particularly bad day on his part. So he kept waiting.

It was over a year after figuring out he was ace that he ended up telling Shiro.

The two were hanging out at Shiro's house, playing Mario Kart, when Keith finally took a deep breath and began to talk.

"Hey, Shiro?"

Shiro paused the game and turned to look at him, his head tilted curiously as he asked, "What's up?"

Now or never.

"I...I'm asexual?" Keith began, his voice giving away his nervousness. "I'm not sexually attracted to anyone basically. I know it sounds weird and all, but please don't think differently of me because of it?"

There was a moment of silence, and Keith nearly started to panic when Shiro gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you for telling me, Keith. I imagine it must have been hard for you. I'm proud of you."

...He had never been so relieved. It was like all the tension had lifted from his shoulders in that moment, allowing him to relax for the first time since he had considered telling someone about this.

* * *

He was seventeen when he told the others.

Having friends was still new and strange to Keith. He was still unused to being able to go to people other than Shiro when he had a problem (Hunk was great for venting to and hugs, Pidge was good for plotting revenge, and Lance was an expert at bitching about assholes). He also wasn't used to being the one others came to for problems, though he certainly found himself not minding.

(He had promised Shiro he wouldn't slash anyone's tires again after the first time, but after someone so awfully misgendered Pidge and acted horrifyingly terrible to Hunk when he told him to stop, Keith found himself unable to resist the temptation. Shiro hadn't said anything, but the looks he sent Keith's way showed how done he was.)

It was really hard to decide how to go about coming out to them. One at a time? The entire group together? Plan it out? Just go on his instincts?

If he did it one at a time, who would he tell first?

Hunk was nice, but he was bad with privacy and kind of a mess, so certainly not him. Keith liked Hunk a lot, but he also knew that Hunk had the tendency to ramble around the others and say things he shouldn't occasionally when doing so. He might accidentally out Keith to Lance and Pidge without intending to. Better to save telling him for last.

Lance was better with privacy, but Keith didn't know how Lance felt about him at this point. Unlike Keith, Lance was an expert at hiding how he felt about something (which was surprising to anyone who didn't know him). Keith wasn't sure if Lance was a good enough friend yet, if a friend at all, to tell this to. Plus there was that rivalry that never got a solid conclusion.

Pidge was the best choice, being good with privacy and not having any past beef with him that they might be hiding feelings about from him. They wouldn't tell unless he gave them explicit permission. The only issue was that catching them when they weren't busy was like swatting flies with your bare hands. You can try, but don't expect results very often.

He could do them all together. That would eliminate the possibility of Hunk accidentally outing him, and he was certainly more likely to find a chance to talk to Pidge with the other two around. But doing that felt...overwhelming. And if they turned out to not accept it, that put him in a situation where he was outnumbered. And if one of them didn't and the other two did, or vice versa, that would lead to a fight probably.

Was he making this too complicated? He didn't even know at this point.

He'd ask Shiro for advice, but Shiro would probably tell him he was overthinking everything and that he had nothing to worry about, and he didn't want that bs right now. It wouldn't help him at all.

...Fuck it, he was just going to have to figure it out as he went.

* * *

"I'm asexual."

Pidge blinked with surprise, quickly pausing the documentary the two were watching and turning their gaze to him, seeming to analyze him for a moment.

"...Cool." With that, they turned back to the documentary, about to play it.

Keith interrupted them, asking, "Really?"

They gave him a sideways smile. " I'm happy you were willing to share that with me, and I won't make a big deal out of it unless you want me to. I figured, knowing you, that is the last thing you'd want."

They had a good point there, so he smiled back and said, "Thanks."

"No problem."

* * *

"I'm asexual."

Hunk stopped what he was doing, turning around looking at Keith with a big grin on his face.

"Dude, that is awesome. I'm happy you were willing to share that with me. I know it's not easy to share that kind of stuff, and I know sometimes I'm pretty bad with secrets."

"Uh, Hunk?" Keith began, sparing a glance behind his friend. Uh oh, that wasn't good.

He didn't notice, continuing, "I am one hundred percent behind you, buddy. And I promise not to say a word to anyone unless you want me to. Cross my heart."

Keith smiled a tad anxiously, "Yes, I really appreciate that, but the thing you were cooking...?"

Hunk let out a shriek and spun back to handle the pot that was currently boiling over, leaving Keith to sigh. He really appreciated Hunk's support, but he wished the big guy had focused on the food.

* * *

"I'm too ace for this shit."

Keith's eyes widened as soon as those words were out of his mouth, and he began to panic a little as he wondered how Lance would react, if he would hate him, and dammit what was he thinking he should have come out to Lance sooner or-

"Oh. Nice." With that, Lance went back to playing on his 3DS.

...What?

Lance then added, "If any jokes I make or something like that makes you uncomfortable, please let me know? And please call me on my shit if I say something dumb and offensive."

Keith blinked, then smiled, relieved. "Alright. Thanks, Lance."

Lance simply gave him finger guns in response, which Keith interpreted to mean "No problem."

* * *

Keith was so glad to have awesome friends.

Hunk had managed to keep his word and didn't accidentally out him like Keith had worried he would. Pidge was great to talk to about bs relating to that kind of thing (when they weren't busy doing something that Keith didn't want to know about so he wouldn't be implicated legally). Lance stopped when asked to.

Keith still wasn't to the point where he could just straight up tell people, "I'm ace." He was pretty sure he never would be. But he felt a lot more comfortable talking about it thanks to the support of his friends.

He was happy, and that was all he could really ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Love you, Miki!


End file.
